The IJzertoren: A Heldenhuldezerk for all of Flanders

Abstract

In 1925, a site for the IJzertoren was secured and an open, juried competition was held for the design of the tower.¹ The jury was composed of a sculptor, Jules Lagae who was involved with the Flemish Movement, Josef Goossenaerts, Oscar Dambre, Cyriel Verschaeve, Elisa Goedeme, the widow of Joe English, and several architects. All Flemish artists were invited to participate. A few guidelines were established. The tower must be between 18 and 20 meters high and incorporate English’s heldenhuldezerk cross design. The 39 designs submitted were displayed at the Het Bourgondisch Schild in Diksmuide on Sunday August 30, 1925, the day of the sixth IJzer Pilgrimage.² The proposal by Robert and Frans Van Averbeke of the Van Averbeke Brothers Architectural firm from Antwerp was selected. The winner was announced on November 1, 1925 and the final design was contracted out for construction to the De Tandt firm from Nederbrakel on March 24, 1928.³ The height of the tower was altered to rise to 35 meters in order to compete with the still viable threat of the Tower of the Dead (Doodentoren). The overall design of the tower satisfied the requirements of the selection committee in that the final project was “grave, plain, severe in its lines and worthy of the sacrifices of our dead.”⁴ At the pilgrimage the tower was described within the framework of the myths of the martyred IJzer symbols:

Already five times the pilgrims from Flanders come to the Field of the IJzer dead, where our best men bled out in days of youthful dedication and selflessness; they knelt on the many grave hills, more numerous each time, solemnly thinking about the idea these simple heroes had embodied until the end and that was imprinted in the crowns of the countless heldenhuldezerkjes, erected with piety by the comrades of the fallen for one last celebration and lasting testimonial: AVV-VVK.⁵